Holly Fulton Breaks America

'I went to LA for the first time earlier this year and I was really struck by the saccharine optimism that permeates the place,' said Holly Fulton backstage after her pretty as a picnic spring summer 13 show.

Her tribute to the American Dream took the form of pencil skirts, Capri pants and crop tops splashed with flamingo pink pinup girls and scattered liberally with bright blue roses. Swimming pool turquoise, lemon yellows and Sunset Boulevard peaches were the perfect expression of sunny optimism in little twee skirts and garden party dresses.

60’s skater girl Peggy McGee was her muse; her bouffant of peroxide hair and a squeaky-clean sex appeal the starting point for the whole collection.

Though the trademark Deco prints and graphic motifs were there, new for Fulton this season was the focus on embellishment: roses, roses everywhere. Embroidered onto plastic Teddy Girl jackets, snaking around a woven wicker basque and sewn into tailored shirts; the addition of the sparklers struck an interesting note for the print-prone designer.

‘I started off with embellishment before print so this was kind of going back to the start for me,’ she explained, ‘I love getting as many textures and surfaces as you tastefully can into a garment. It really excites me working in multiple fabrications, and because I wanted this to be a very fun and fresh – and different – collection, it seemed natural to work that way.’

Indeed it was different right from the off: Fulton turned the traditional show format on its head by starting with a full procession of the models, which immediately switched the audience on to high doe.

See the full catwalk collection

Award-winning illustrator Clym Evernden created these drawings exclusively for ELLE at the Holly Fulton show. Click through the gallery above for Evernden’s graphic interpretation of the lo